News & Announcements

Effective 7:00 AM on February 25, 2005 Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department will implement a 6 month trial of a multi-agency Paramedic Mutual Aid program involving Corinth, Moreau, Wilton, and General Schuyler. For situations requiring either “Paramedic Assistance” or “Advanced Airway Management” (under a REMO approved trial program), a “Signal 41” will be activated on the EMS Dispatch frequency. Response is limited to ALS personnel who have been issued pagers that activate with the Signal 41 tone following standard Saratoga County EMS Radio and Mutual Aid procedures. Any questions regarding the Signal 41 trial should be referred to County EMS Coordinator Mike McEvoy.

An American Heart CPR Instructor Course will be held at Malta Ambulance on January 11 (7-10pm), January 18 (7-10pm), and concluding January 29 (10am – 2pm). Instructors from ARC and NSC who wish to cross over need only attend the Jan 11th session. Cost will be $50.00 per student plus instructor manuals, which need to be obtained by each student individually (Heartsaver Instructor Manual Collection Order # 70-2303 includes all of the instructor manuals needed to teach American Heart Association Heartsaver courses. This shrink-wrapped package contains the following: Instructor’s Manual: Basic Life Support, Instructor’s Manual: Heartsaver AED, Instructor’s Manual: Heartsaver First Aid – $50 which is $25 less than purchasing each book separately) available from either of the following suppliers: Laerdal www.laerdal.com, Channing Bete www.channing-bete.com, or Worldpoint ECC www.worldpoint-ecc.com. Crossover instructor candidates’ cost for this course will be $25. This class is limited to 15 new Instructor students. To register or inquire about the course email to CPRTRAIN@nycap.rr.com.

The Countywide ALS Agreement was approved at the December 13, 2004 EMS Council meeting. The final version of the Agreement will be mailed to all agencies shortly and can also be downloaded by clicking here. For those interested in the history of the Agreement’s development, the information package “full version” containing all questions and answers since the agreement was first opened for comment can be seen by clicking here.

Effective immediately, Saratoga County EMS has increased the frequency of EMS Radio Announcements to 3 times daily at 08:15, 16:15, and 00:15 hours. The nightly pager test will continue to be conducted at 18:00 hours when possible and will no longer include announcements. This update to the EMS Radio Procedures Manual is available at the Downloads tab above or by clicking here. This change is in response to a request by the EMS Council that information on hospital diversions be more frequently and consistently delivered to County EMS Providers. An analysis of radio traffic indicates that the 18:00 hour is typically too busy for announcements to be conducted. Separating announcements from the pager test will assure greater consistency in getting them read. Changes to page 7 of the Radio Procedures Manual affect only items F and G on that page.

Effective October 12th, 2004 a revised MAP will take effect. Changes developed with the input of numerous providers, administrators, physicians, and aeromedical experts were outlined in a letter mailed to all corps (click here for a copy of the letter) by County EMS Coordinator Mike McEvoy. A quick overview of changes is available in a document accompanying McEvoy’s letter (click here for a highlighted copy of changes). The October 2004 revision of the MA Manual incorporates all changes made since the prior (January 2003) printing. The entire Mutual Aid Manual can be downloaded by clicking here or using the downloads button at the top of this page.